![](http://www.alamy.com/thumbs/6/89267667-BD33-4D4B-9EBE-93BFE4E5C66E/EB8XE6.jpg)
Chester, Cheshire, UK 27th November, 2014. Grosvenor Shopping Centre Black Friday Sales Weekend. City centre holiday shopping season, retail shops, stores, Christmas shoppers, discount sale shopping, and consumer spending on Black Friday weekend considered to be the biggest shopping event of the year. retailers have embraced the post-holiday sale bonanza, even though many customers were left surprised by wall-to-wall discounts in their favourite stores as some went bonkers for bargains. Credit: Mar Photographics/Alamy Live News
Retailers have the Philadelphia Police Department to thank for Black Friday. It was the American police who, during the 1950s and 1960s, gave the name to the day after Thanksgiving because of the chaos that ensued in the city as shoppers flocked to the high street sales while spectators travelled to the annual Army vs Navy American football match. Shops in Philadelphia pushed for the day to be known by the more flattering “Big Friday”. For them, the day after Thanksgiving was vital – it was the day that shoppers started their Christmas shopping and they wanted as many people as possible through their doors. Indeed, the day was so crucial that retailers pushed the US government to move Thanksgiving to earlier in November so there was more time for Christmas shopping. The holiday used to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November, but in 1939 this was the last day of the month. After lobbying from retailers, President Roosevelt moved the day forward by a week. Two years later it was confirmed that Thanksgiving would in future always be celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, rather than the last. As the years went by, Philadelphia’s nickname for the day began to catch on around the US. Black Friday gained other meanings too, with industry experts claiming it also referred to the fact it was the first day of the year that retailers finally moved from being in the red to generating a profit.
Size: 2400px × 3600px
Location: Chester, Cheshire, UK
Photo credit: © Mar Photographics / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: action, adult, adults, attraction, avenue, bags, bargain, bargains, blur, blurred, britain”, british, building, busiest, busy, buy, buyers, buying, carrying, celebration, centre, centre”, cheap, christmas, city, city-centre, clearance, collection, crimbo, crowded, crowds, deals, december, decorated, decoration, department, discounted, discounts, england, english, eu, exposure, fashion, façade, female, festival, festivities, figure, figures, foreign, front, holiday, hunters, illuminated, international, items, kingdom”, lifestyle, light, local, long, male, mall, man, markets, merry, move, movement, moving, offers, passers-, passing, people, popular, post-christmas, prices, promotion, promotions, purchased, purchasers, retail, retailer, retailers, retailing, sale, sales, sales”, season, sell, sellers, selling, shop, shopper, shoppers, shopping, shops, specialist, spending, square, stall, stand, store, stores, street, streets, streetscape, street”, style, traders, trading, traditional, travel, uk, vertical, weekend, window, woman, xmas, “city, “high, “holiday, “united